Illinois chasing more than $100 million in unemployment fraud

In their latest efforts, state officials found another 12,000 people who wrongfully collected nearly $46 million in unemployment benefits. The people involved have been notified they must agree to a repayment plan or face garnishment of their federal and state taxes to repay the money.

This is the first year the Illinois Department of Employment Security had the authority to garnish federal tax returns. The state has already garnished state tax returns of 54,000 people for $10.4 million as well as $42 million from federal tax returns of nearly 21,000 people.

The latest effort was timed to coincide with filing federal tax returns for people who requested an extension to file.